Steam-boiler.



No. 784,976. PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905.

G. H. BLOWERS.'

STEAM BOIL'ER.

APPLICATION FILED 0012.27, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

liti! loo PATENTBD MAR. 14, 1905.

G. E. BLOWERS. STEAM BOILER.

APPLIcATIoN FILED oma?. 190s.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

OQOOQGOOOOQ GWW/@54%.

UNITED STATES Patented March 14, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

STEAM-BOILER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,976, dated March14, 1905.

Application filed October 27, 1903. Serial No. 178.747.

To @ZZ whom, it 71mg/ concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. BLowERs, a citizen of the United States,residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSteam-Boilers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for the utilization of the waste gasesor products of combustion which are ordinarily discharged into the openair and lost after they have accomplished their work in generatingsteamin a boiler. It is particularly applicable to those steam plants, verynumerous in large cities, in which there is always kept on hand an idleboiler for emergency purposes, for my invention can be installed inthese plants at very small outlay.

In my device I pass the hot gases after they have completed their usualwork under the boiler and through generating steam and are about to beexpelled. into the open air into the furnace of the auxiliary boiler inthe same manner as they passed through or under the original boiler,where additional heat is extracted by the water in this auxiliaryboiler. rIhey then pass into the open air. The hot water in thisauxiliary and otherwise idle boiler is then used as feed-water for theoriginal boiler in the mannerhereinafter described.

I have shown my invention as applied to an oil-burning plant and to theordinary form of return tubular boiler; but it can be applied to anytype of steam-generators using' other kinds of fuel.

An embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings andis hereinafter described.

Figure l shows a front elevation of the ordinary two-boiler steam plantin which one boiler is ordinarily idle. Fig. 2 shows a side elevation ofthe same plant.

A A' are two boilers arranged to discharge through one common stack C.

B B' are dampers in the breeching K K' of the boilers, leading' from theboiler-fines to the smoke-stack.

E E' are the steam-drums, and a a' are the pipes constituting thefeed-Water system.

b c c' e e' ff' are valves for the directing' of the water-current.

D is avalve or damper revoluble on a center O and placed in the flues,connecting the breeching of each boiler with the furnace of the others.

S S' are the oil-burners for injecting-,oil into the furnace of eachboiler when it is used as a steam-generator. while L L' III M' are theusual furnace-doors, into two of which, M M', the iiues X X' are litted.

H is adeflecting-plate, Fig. 2, placed in the furnace of the boilerbeing used as a waterheater to deflect the hot gases against the boiler.

In the drawings shown the boiler A is being used in the usual mode as asteam-generator with the usual type of oil-burner installed, and theboiler A' is being utilized as a feed-water heater. All the fire in theplant is under boiler A. In the plant shown the damper B is closed, andB' is open to the passage of the hot products of combustion. The damperD closes the flue X' and opens Hue X. The operation of the heatingdevice is then as follows: The oil entering through the burner S isburned under boiler A. The hot gases generated pass, as usual, under theboiler to its rear and then back through its tubes to the breeching K.Here it is intercepted by the damper B and taken down through the fiue Xby the force of the draft past damper l), through door M', and intofurnace of boiler A', now beingl utilized as a feed-water heater. Onpassing into this furnace it is deflected toward the boiler by thedeiiecting-plate H (see Fig. 2) and passing to the rear returns throughthe tubes of the boiler to the front of boiler A' to the breeching K',from whence it passes through the damper B', Fig. l, (which is open,)into the smoke-stack and thence into the open air. In its passagethrough the furnace and tubes of boiler A' a great quantity of heat isabsorbed from it by the water in the boiler A'vheat that otherwise wouldhave been lost on leaving` boiler A. The natural draft of the stack isordinarily suflicient to keep the products of combustion movingsufliciently fast; but in the event that it is necessary to force thedraft any other various means, as by fan, jet of steam, or otherdevices, may be employed. rlhis may become necessary should the wastegases be passed through more than the one water -heating boilersuccessively. In the water-supply system shown valves e L c are open.Valves 15 t are check-valves, set so that water may pass into theboilers, but not from them. The feed- Water from the force-pump passesinto the supply-pipe at '1' and following the direction of the arrowpasses e', is intercepted by c', and then passes through the check-valvet into the bottom of the boiler A. As it becomes heated it rises to thetop and passes out of the boiler A at and flowing in the direction ofthe arrow, passing` valve c and checkvalve t, enters boiler A, whence itis converted into steam. rIhe force of the feed-pump keeps the water incirculation. If it is desired to reverse the functions of the twoboilers A A, it can be done very rapidly. Shut ofl' the lire, remove thedefieeting-plate H, Fig. 2, from the furnace of boiler A and place itsimilarly in the furnace of boiler A, and blow off suii'icient waterfrom boiler A to give ample steamspace. It will now be found that boilerA will already have from thirty to forty pounds of steam. Close dampersB and close flue X by turning damper D on its axis O, thus opening flueX. Open damper B, close valves e 2) c, and open valves c 7) e. New lightthe oilburncr S, and the combustion takes place under boiler A, now usedas a steam-generator, and the waste gases pass out and under boiler A,now used as a feed-water heater, in the reverse direction from which itran when the boiler' A was used as the water-heater. Likewise the courseof the water will now be iirst to the bottom of boiler A and thence outof the top of boiler A to the bottom of boiler A, whence it becomessteam.

T he advantages of this construction are manifold. The feed-water issupplied to the boiler at a temperature far above what it wouldotherwise be---usually far above the boilingpoint. This bearsfar-reaching results-fviz., a great economy in fuel, greatly-increasedefficiency of the boiler and less necessity of forcing it, a decreasedrepair bill, and in case of'breakdown of the boiler there is not onlyhot water in the auxiliary boiler, but always from thirty to [iftypounds of steam on blowing ofi enough water to make steam-space, andother advantages suggested by the necessities of the individualplantuand this construction is often possible at a small expense andwithout the necessity of the installation of expensive economizers thatcost as much as thc boilers themselves, and it does not in any wayimpair the efficiency of the boilers or their use as the usualsteam-generators.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-l- 1. The combination of two or moreboilers, a passage from each boiler to the smoke-stack, a passageconnecting the two boilers forcenveying products of combustion from oneto the other, a system of water-pipes having valves for controlling theflow of water and directing it into the water-heating boiler and fortaking hot water from said boiler to the steam-generating boiler, andmeans for opening and closing all of said passages, whereby products ofcombustion from one boiler can be cut olf from the stack and becompelled to pass to the other boiler before reaching said stack.

2. In a steam-generating plant, two boilers either of which is adaptedto be used as a steamgenerator and the other as a waterheater, a systemof water-pipes having valves for controlling' the How of Water anddirecting it into the water-heating boiler and for taking hot water fromthe said boiler to the steamgenerating boiler, and means for preventingthe normal dischargeI of the products of combustion from thesteam-generating boiler and compelling them to pass to the water-heatingboiler before being discharged.

3. In a steam-generating plant, two or more boilers any of which may beused as steamgel'ierators and others as feed-water heaters, a system ofwater-supply pipes having' valves for directing the flow of water intothe feedwater-heating boilers and for taking hot water from thefeed-water-heating boilers tothe steam-generating boilers, and dampersfor cutting off the products of combustion in the steam generatingboilers from the smokestack and compelling them to pass to theheating-surfacesI of the feed-water-heating boilers before iinaldischarge into the open air.

LL. In a steam plant, a plurality of boilers, a hollow breeching havingsmoke iiues or passages communicating with a stack, a damper in each ofsuch iues or passages, such breeching having' also intersecting passagescommunicating with the smoke-tubes of and with the heating-space beneaththe respective boilers, and a damper at the intersection, cooperatingwith the dampers in the smoke-fl ues, for causing the products ofcombustion from one boiler to enter the said heating-space of the otherand vice versa.

5. The combination with two boilers having heating-space beneath them,of a removable defiecting-plate adapted to be set in eitherheating-space, and means for causing the products of combustion from oneboiler to enter the heating-space of the other above saiddefleeting-plate.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses, this 13th day of October, 1903.

GEORGE H. BLOVERS.

Vitnesses:

ALBERT C. AIKEN, L. WV. SEELY.

IOO

IIO

IIS

